Case Number 11361

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

When the lights go off, it's on.

Opening Statement

The theatrical trailer for Night at the Museum left audiences
appropriately piqued for what promised to be a high-adventure and effects-laden
excursion into family friendly action. The preview reel tantalized audiences
with elements reminiscent of Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and, most
notably, Jumanji. All the pieces were in place, so what went wrong?

Facts of the Case

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller, Zoolander) is an idea guy. He knew his
breakthrough audible light switch -- the Snapper -- would have hit big if not
for that Clapper stealing his thunder. Still, he's convinced his virtual golf
game will be huge, just as soon as technology catches up with his vision. In the
meantime, he's struggling to stay employed and maintain his apartment in New
York City, close to his young son and ex-wife. But it looks as if he's going be
relegated to living in Queens, if he can't land this next job -- a night
watchman at the Museum of Natural History. During the interview he meets Cecil
Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke, Fitzwilly), the current watchman, and his two
companions, Gus (Mickey Rooney, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and Reginald
(Bill Cobbs, First Kid), who seem strangely eager to turn over the keys
and the tattered manual to the unsuspecting newcomer. It seems like it will be a
boring graveyard shift gig, until the enormous T-Rex skeleton goes missing,
ultimately emerging down a corridor and ready to pursue the wide-eyed Larry. In
fact, the entire museum comes alive, literally; all exhibits, from the Huns and
diorama miniatures to the Easter Island statue, taking on unexplainable life. He
learns from the wise old 'Teddy' Roosevelt figure (Robin Williams, What
Dreams May Come) that an ancient Egyptian tablet has given the exhibits life
ever since 1952 when it was included in the mummy display. Now, Larry needs to
learn the routine of maintaining order in the wild museum without losing his
job, his keys, and his mind.

The Evidence

On paper, Night in the Museum has all the makings of a bona-fide hit,
the same sort of movie magic that propelled the likes of Spy Kids, The
Pagemaster, and Jumanji. But despite the advanced CGI effects and the
assemblage of "bankable" talent -- not only Stiller and Williams but
also Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan -- this one came up desperately short in the
script department. No doubt the film is full of action amid stunning production
design, but its all so rushed and ultimately without purpose. Within the first
evening of his watch, Larry clearly has his hands full -- and the audience has
its eyes full -- with the well-rendered T-Rex skeleton. But, because the story
demanded the entire museum population come to life, we're subsequently
overwhelmed by an onslaught of CGI characters and costumed actors that are more
than Larry (and the audience) can properly absorb. To this end, Larry runs about
ignoring the majority of critters and characters, and so do we. Larry's key
interactions are between the T-Rex, Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, and the diorama
figures, Jedediah (Wilson) and Octavius (Coogan). Subsequent evenings are far
too repetitive, until the rather contrived and potentially disappointing
face-off against the unlikely villain. In the end, the total is not equal to the
sum of its parts and everything comes off as a great deal of activity for far
too little a payoff. Simply put, if you saw the trailer, you saw the whole
plot.

With the story lagging, Night at the Museum needs to deliver
something new and innovative in "blockbuster" entertainment to
overcome its narrative deficiencies. Sadly, it doesn't. From the outset,
beginning with Dick Van Dyke's wink that something wacky this way comes, this
picture follows the typical three-act architecture of a family-action film. With
that, it's a highly predictable affair. Even though we don't know the specific
details to come, the overall conflicts and resolution are easy to spot. If
you've seen more than one of this sort of film (and likely you have), then you
won't find much surprising here. Amazingly, the film raked in over $200 million
with this uninspired Yuletide gift of "same 'ol, same 'ol."

Twentieth-Century Fox adheres to its exclusive stance by offering this
high-definition disc on the Blu-ray format only. To its credit, the studio
delivered a technically adept disc beginning with a 1080p / MPEG-2 encoded
transfer, framed at 2.35:1. The image is crisp and vibrant; a highly dimensional
view from beginning to end. The detail level is striking but bears the visible
evidence of edge enhancement. The colors are deep if not a bit overdone at times
(thankfully, they never run or smear). Black levels are deep but a bit too much
so, resulting in occasional crush of shadow detail. Despite these misgivings,
the sort that will certainly irritate the aficionados of the emerging format,
the overall picture quality is vibrant and visually pleasing.

The audio is offered in a preferable DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio track
that performs admirably (even under the current hardware constraints that can
only utilize the core of the mix). The soundstage is suitably full yet
unspectacular at the outset until the T-Rex skeleton roars to life. The imaging
around the channels is excellent and the low-end thumps and rumbles wonderfully.
The dialog is perfectly clear throughout the melee and Alan Silvestri's score is
quite prominent (perhaps even too much so).

As for extras, this Blu-ray edition cribs only a portion of those bonus
features offered on the two-disc Standard Definition DVD, making this an
abbreviated tour of the featured museum. The audio commentary from Levy is
certainly active and energetic, his solo sitting rarely lapsing into silence. He
imparts plenty of information about the production, the ten years it took to
bring it to fruition, and the ways in which he worked with the perfectionist
Stiller on creating some of the shots. Alternately, you can give a listen to
co-scriptwriters Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon talk about the evolution of the
script as leveraged and stretched from Milan Terec's 1993 children's book, that
which only ran 32 pages. The only other extra ported over from the two-disc SD
release is the original theatrical trailer, presented in 1080p / MPEG-2. As an
exclusive to this BR incarnation, a Trivia Track is available that provides
pop-up information regarding actor trivia, museum trivia, history trivia, and
production trivia.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Where has it been written that "family-themed" blockbusters require
a divorced couple and their estranged child (or children, however the case may
be)? It seems whenever a doofy dad is needed to serve as the butt of the
adventurous antics in such a production, its necessary he be a loser divorcee
who's high on ideals but low on employability (this easily reminds me of a
superior Robins Williams outing, Mrs. Doubtfire). It seems comedy of the
new age delights in depicting familial dysfunction to propel its plot. From that
very revelation at the opening of this film, it's clear this is just another
tired affair, big on budget but low on imagination. Bah, humbug.

Closing Statement

In the final analysis, Night at the Museum is full of eye and ear
candy, but it's ultimately lacking a compelling flavor. Technically, this
Blu-ray disc is one of the better releases on the high-definition format but its
sub-par content, with additional consideration that this re-master lacks the
complete content of extra features, makes this a difficult purchase
recommendation. If you happened to have loved the film when it visited theaters,
then you'll certainly be pleased by the improved image and audio. Otherwise,
consider a less-expensive rental and use the money saved to take the kids to a
real museum. What a concept, huh?